The Sexy MLS Cup Final Picks? Colorado Vs FC Dallas

Did we see what happened in the MLS Cup playoffs? Did we just see what happened at the Home Depot Center? We saw FC Dallas put three goals past the Los Angeles Galaxy and have earned their first trip to the MLS Cup Final. After such a fabulous start to their season the Los Angeles Galaxy all of a sudden ran out of gas and looked deflated.

At the same time for the New York Red Bulls they were having a worst to first season and looked like they could’ve joined the Galaxy at BMO Field for this season’s final. They had a strong first leg in their playoff matches against the Earthquakes, but when they came home to Red Bull Arena it was the Black and Blue side that made their chances count and advanced to the next round.

What we have seen in these two conference finals on the same side of the country are a bunch of hard working teams that have earned the right to become league champions. Sure the sexier picks are Los Angeles and New York with Angel, Beckham, Buddle, Donovan, Henry and Marquez. Sadly it didn’t happen this year and these two sides will saddle up and try to make that happen in 2011.

But while MLS is trying to make the big bucks with so many famous footballers in the championship final, let’s not forget that Gary Smith of the Rapids and Schellas Hyndman of FC Dallas worked just as hard to get their sides into that match as well. They have some famous players from the US National Team like Jeff Cunningham, PabloMastroeni & Conor Casey, but they work just as hard as Beckham, Donovan, Henry and so on.

Sooner than later these sides were going to reach an MLS Cup final and they have done so this season. Hyndman, who was a college soccer coach at SMU, finally got his players to understand his tactics and they executed them perfectly against Real Salt Lake and the Galaxy. Smith who was in the inner workings of Arsenal from the English Premiership also got his chance to be a head coach and has done the club proud.

Were we all hoping it could’ve been LA Vs NY? Towards the end of the regular season I would say yes. I’ll be honest and say the season that the Red Bulls had last year all I wanted was for them to re-group, make the playoffs and see what happened. I never expected such a fantastic turnaround and no one expected a great start by the Galaxy without David Beckham and the goal production from Edson Buddle.

After it’s all said and done the 2010 MLS Cup Final will be contested between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas. They have their own special players and no matter who plays for them, all of us who supports this league and the game in this country should tune in on Sunday night, November 21st on ESPN and watch to see who lifts the Philip Anschutze Trophy.

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16 Comments

CharlesNovember 15, 2010

Sadly NY-LA didn’t happen !?!?!
Hallalujah !!!! I don’t think that many were rooting for NY-LA outside of NY and LA. LA maybe because they were a very good team.

Dallas is a very good pick to watch win it all. IF Henry doesn’t stupidly hurt Hartmann, they probably set the MLS record for fewest losses.
Their ties might mislead that they are boring, (I don’t think MLS should have ties, so blame someone else for them tying too much) but they are VERY exciting to watch and have the MLS all time leading goal scorer. Without calculating, I would bet over the last year and a half they have the best record in MLS.

ps. I would take Dallas players over some of the ones you mention as the superstars we missed out on.

Thank, I enjoyed reading the positive comments about the Colorado Rapids & FC Dallas and how they earned to make to the finals, unlike L.A. and NYRB who try to buy their way to the title. Sadly David Gubala of MLS rumor has done a good job by dumbing down the MLS Cup finals.

I know Dallas and Colorado isn’t exactly the sexiest matchup, but maybe this is what MLS needs. Two teams in underperforming markets making it to the title game should stir up interest in those areas. There is no reason Dallas should not be packing 21,000 into the stands every game. With a TV market of 2.5 million and a large Latino community, FC Dallas needs to go after the soccer fans who follow other teams and say “Hey, we’re YOUR team”

Idiots. NY v LA is what EVERYONE wanted because thats the only way the MLS Cup would have gotten ANY ratings, which MLS needs badly right now.

And I disagree with this bs that Dallas and Colorado worked harder, that is completely false! LA and New York finished in the top 2, they worked harder all season long. Colorado and Dallas just got lucky and had 1 good game at the right time. This league congratulates teams that play average all year and then have a few good games as champions, that’s not right. The teams that worked all year round hard deserve that title. Until the MLS realizes this every single american soccer fan will stick to watching La Liga and Premiership and stay away from the bogus MLS rules.

Actually LA and RSL came in 1 and 2.
And your one Good game at the right time. FC Dallas Manhandled RSL and LA. Colorado played tough in Columbus and against beat San Jose. Plus Dallas plays Attractive Soccer. So get a life.
Daniel F. great article im glad you you are being positive. Don’t Let the Eurosnobs get to you.

I’m pretty good Dan. In fact this is why I support our league. I was hoping for LA Vs NY in the final, but it didn’t happen. So I’m ready to support Colorado Vs Dallas. I think it will be a great final and hopefully more fans in both Colorado and Frisco will come over and support their teams.

How is 3-2 on agg. a “manhandling” of RSL. It will be interesting to see what kind of rules the MLS will change/adopt for the playoffs. I gotta pull for FCD this time though even though they took out my beloved RSL . The hoops looked pretty awesome raising that western conference trophy that every one had LA already winning.

I can’t wait to see empty seats in the stands when TFC fans boycott the cup final. The low in Toronto is going to be in the 30’s. HAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA FAIL! I guarentee ESPN is going to chuck cup final to ESPN 2 and put NHRA in its place. Two teams with no shirt sponsor! TWo teams who have avg. league low attendance.

I hope people, both those already into MLS and casual fans, give the final a chance. My only concern is that Dallas’ counter-attack style might not work as well against Colorado as it did against LA and the game turns into a defensive struggle.

It would be great for the league if the match results in greater interest for both teams next season.

what bothers me the most is that mls structure in deciding who is champion is waaaaay out of whack. isnt this suppost to be the battle between the two best clubs in mls? instead you have FC Dallas (5th overall with 50 pts) and Colorado Rapids (7th overall with 46 pts). clearly not the best clubs this season. i wasnt one of the people who wanted a LA vs NJ finals though i did wanted a LA vs Seattle final still this just instills mediocre soccer. but wutev. LA won the real prize which is the supporters shield. Im not a LA supporter but im just disgruntled about the playoff system and the mls sturcture

Actually i would say it is ranked this way
1 MLS Cup
2 Supporter Sheild
3-4 US Open Cup/CLL
5 Super Liga

I perfer Playoffs over Euro Style fprmat because it keeps the league from being boring. Besides FC Dallas deserves to be in the cup more then anybody. They beat the 2 best teams in the league to get there (LAand RSL).

I love how people nit pick that SLC and LA are not in the finals. Same people by the way that ripped on SLC for winning last year. 😉

Dallas was a VERY good team this year. Congrats to LA for a great regular season….But Playoffs are VERY exciting and pit the best versus the best.

Would I prefer the best four teams not play in the same division, sure, would I prefer my own format of the playoffs ( 3 games in every round ) sure.
But it is what we have for now…..and my $0.02 worth….a million times better than if my Sounders and many of the other teams were out of this on the 4th of July ( and they were ) because we only play a regular season.
You would have to be very rich to waste your money for season tickets with that risk.